Basketball imagines
by Kimberlythemultifandomgirl
Summary: A book of imagines from players in the NBA or in the NCAA, requests are able to be taken.
1. Chapter 1

The entire class period, I had to keep myself from glancing over at Grayson. My mind kept on tempting me to look at him, just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, or that it was someone other than him. Instead of looking at him, I decided to look at the clock. It became a routine, whenever I had the itch to look at Grayson, I would look at the clock, but looking at it every 5 seconds was not helping. After the first 10 minutes of class, I gave in to the temptation and glanced at Grayson.

He was taking notes, but with a somber expression on his face. His face was looking from his paper to the board, but his eyes were millions of miles away. His hand moved along the page lazily, not attentively like it usually does. I sigh, I blew it. He thinks that I never wanted to be with him. He thinks that I don't want to be his girlfriend and now he's just going to take back his things and disregard anything ever happened this morning, and I don't want him to disregard this. The way he kissed me this morning was something I never wanted to forget. I loved the feeling of Grayson's lips on mine. It left a lingering sensation, leaving me wanting more. All the passion in the kiss was something I wanted to feel every single day, and now, it was certain that I would never feel that with Grayson ever again.

After a while the bell rang and Harrelson dismissed the class. Everyone started to gather their things and leave, but I don't get up. After struggling to pay attention all class period, the thought still hadn't left my mind.

 _What was I supposed to do now?_ I mean, this is something good that has happened to me. My first kiss coming from someone that I am probably in love with. My best friend, just like in my mind, had fallen for me and now told me that he wanted to be with me. It's all I ever wanted, but I was freaking out because I didn't know what to do anymore. I mean, I should just act normal, just the same because he is my best friend, but now I had new information and I did not know what to do with it. I mean, him taking these actions means that he likes me and would like to be with me, right? I ran a hand through my hair and tucked some of it behind my ear.

After another hour and a half, Harrelson concluded his lecture and dismissed the class. I slowly gathered up my notebook, textbook and _Chamber of Secrets_ and stuffed them in my backpack. Once I looked up, the team was in front of my table, looking at me as if I had dropped out of the sky.

"Are you alright Esther?" Luke asked, scrunching his eyebrows together at he looked at me.

I slowly nod and start to get up, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine." I say slowly and walk out of Harrelson's class, not paying attention to several people calling after me. I walk out of the psychology building and go over to the clock tower bench where I try to catch my breath. I wasn't running or anything, but with the way my heart was pounding, and the way my breath was hitching with everything going on, I needed to calm down. I put my bag down on the floor and I walked around, taking deep breaths.

Grayson James Allen kissed me. Grayson James Allen, starting guard for the Duke Blue Devils, gave me his cap and his wristband that mean so much to him, to make sure other guys would back off until he had time to ask me to be…his girlfriend. Is this really happening? Is it safe to believe this? Can I really just be with my crush like I have always wanted?

I go over and sit down on the bench and balance my elbows on my knees, holding the cap in my hands and letting my hair cover all my face. I take deep breaths until I hear someone stop in front of me. I slowly look up and see Grayson standing there, his face twisted into an apologetic grimace. I sit up and look at him, saying nothing, not knowing what to say. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what.

In the end, Grayson spoke. "I-I'm sorry about how abrupt I was about this all, and I'm sorry for possibly making this awkward, and um-I'm sorry if you never want to talk to me again, I wouldn't blame you."

"You're stupid." I say with a smile slowly creeping up on my face.

He looks at me and a smile tugs at the corner of his lips. "What?"

"Okay, so the reason why I just like ran out was because I needed to clear my head and let the oxygen flow to my brain. I was so shocked and happy and I couldn't think straight. It was all glory of God's that I was able to read without cracking a smile or stuttering." I smile at this.

He smiles and comes over to the bench and sits next to me, facing me. "So, that's a good thing."

I nod, "A very good thing."

"So, I didn't mess up? This was actually something that would lead into the start of something….new?" He says, with a smirk.

I look at him with a 'you did not just do that,' expression then chuckle. "You're more of a dork than I am."

"Well, apparently dorky is what makes you blush." He says.

I purse my lips to hide a smile and look away, no knowing what to say to my best friend.

The clock tower behind us tolled, letting us know that we had 10 minutes until the next class. I look at Grayson and he stares back at me. "So, you know how you said, that you didn't want to be that guy who just lead a girl on?"

He nodded.

"Well, I don't want to be that girl who just makes it seem like I'm happy, without reassuring you. I want to give you the confidence to ask me, so want to walk me to class?"

He chuckles, "But I always do that."

I get closer to him, "I know but um," I take a deep breath and take his hand in mine, lacing my fingers with his. "I just wanted to ask this time because it will be a different trip over there?" my voice broke a little at the end with all my nerves. I look down and wait for his answer, but instead he tilts my chin up pulls me in and kisses me. Just like the first kiss we had earlier, I was very timid. Grayson had been my first kiss, and I was still not used to it, but I really liked it. He was gentle with me; he understood that I had never been in this position. I thought that I was too naïve and too innocent for him to understand or for anyone to understand, but Grayson took the time to understand and to figure out exactly how to make me feel okay with it.

He pulled away and pecked my lips 3 times before smiling and looking at me. "Of course, let's go." He gets up and pulls me along with him. I put the cap back on and we start walking over to our next class.

The walking didn't take that long, it only took about a minute to get to it, but it was a little odd, and awkward, but the good kind of awkward. We kept on getting stared at by some people, and it got really weird and awkward when we passed by the group of Plumlee, Derryck, Abbey and Antonio, who were all waiting in front of the speech building.

"Oh boy, here we go." I breathe out, Grayson just chuckled.

The first person to notice us was of course, Abbey. She broke into a wide smile then started slapping Derryck's arm, squealing like me when I see a picture of Josh Hutcherson.

"What woman?" He exclaims then looks in our direction. He looks taken a-back then smiles and shouts, "Finally! Get it Grayson!"

This makes Plumlee and Antonio turn to face us too, and they have similar reactions. Plumlee smiles and nods approvingly as Antonio raises and eyebrow and wiggles them.

I feel my face get red and I bury it in my free hand.

" _Hasta que por fin_?" Antonio asks as Grayson and I scale the stairs.

" _Callate."_ I say as we reach the top.

"Okay, so I'm going to steal her for a little while," Abbey says as she takes my other hand and pulls me away from Grayson and the guys, to the corner of the entrance.

" _Ay Abigail._ That hurt."

" _Ay,_ shut up, you can complain later. What was that? You guys came into Harrelson's holding hands, then you get here like that too, when did this happen?" Abbey exclaims.

"Hold on Abbey, we're not dating."

She raises an eyebrow.

"He hasn't asked me-"

Abbey holds up a finger to stop me. She turns around and stomps back to the boys.

"Uh oh," I say as I follow behind her.

Abbey pushes Derryck aside and gets in front of Grayson. "You had better make the asking of Esther to be your girlfriend so damn adorable that she fangirls about it for the rest of her life because all this 'friends with benefits' thing is lasting no longer than until the end of the day, okay?" Abbey jabs her finger at Grayson's chest as he looked at her, scared out of his wit, nodding frantically.

"And you'd best believe that if you break her heart or make her anything but happy, I will break your face, your leg, your arm, your-"

I decide to intervene here, going over to her and grabbing her arm, "Down girl, he gets it." I pull her away, "Besides, if that happens, I think I would be able to handle it myself." I wink at the boys before dropping her into Derryck's arms, who then drags her inside the building.

Plumlee and Antonio were laughing as Grayson's face turned red.

"Well, I'm going inside to try and calm her down too," I say as I turn around, but Grayson stops me.

"Wait," he grabs my hand. "You don't really think that this is just a friend with benefits thing right?"

"No, of course not. I don't even know where she got that from. I never said that okay, I promise." I say quickly.

He laughs, and covers his mouth with his free hand. "Well, um I meant what I said, about wanting to ask you, to be my uh," his hand started sweating and his face started to get red.

I felt myself blush as well, and I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "Yeah, the whole uh keep these on until I can ask you what they're symbolizing." I flex my wrists and glance up at the cap.

"Yeah, but please don't think that I'm trying to play you or anything, I just want to make it special and I don't want to lose you because you mean so much to me not just as the girl I want but as my best friend and-"

As he was saying this, I was smiling at him and thinking he was an idiot. I leaned in and kissed him, just to make him shut up.

"I get it. Don't sweat it. I'll say yes no matter what." I say when I pull away. "You've had my heart in your hands ever since the night of the puddle."

This makes Grayson chuckle and blush.

I caress his right cheek with my hand before I turn on my heel and go inside to find Abbey with a huge smile on my face.


	2. Grayson Allen imagine 2

I walk into the cafeteria and sit down at the table Luke, Grayson and I usually sit down at. They had classes farther than mine, and it was going to be a while before they get here, so I decided to take out my Chamber of Secrets book and started reading.

Harry Potter along with his friends were about to go the Death day party, when I hear someone call my name. I look up and see Harry Giles. I smile at him and wave.

Harry comes over to my table and sits with me. "Hey Esther."

"Hello Harry, how are you doing today?" I ask as I turn the page of my book and look at him.

"I am good, and you?"

"I am grand, on a roller coaster that only goes up, thank you for asking."

He chuckles and takes out his phone then puts down his backpack as I continue reading. After reading about a paragraph, Harry speaks up again.

"Can I ask you something Esther?"

I glance up, and nod, "Yeah, what's up?" I say as I look back down at my book and keep reading.

"Um, this has to do with you and Grayson."

This catches my attention. I look up at him, push my glasses up on my nose, and close my book. "Okay, what about Grayson and I?"

"Well, what exactly are you guys?"

I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Like, what's your relationship? Are you guys brother and sister or are you guys cousins or-"

I start laughing. It was really stupid of me to laugh, I mean he was just curious, but with the way he was looking at me and the way he was so hesitant and embarrassed to ask was just cracking me up, and I couldn't hold it in anymore. It took me a while but I finally composed myself.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you asked like so scared and…" I burst into another fit of laughter.

Harry looks at me like I dropped out of the sky and chuckled alongside me. After a couple of seconds, I stopped laughing when I heard someone clear their throat in front of me. I wipe a couple of tears from my eyes before sitting up, and looking up. Grayson was standing there, his jaw clenched and his glare set on Harry.

"Oh hey Grayson," I say out of breath.

"What's up baby?"

I clear my throat and sit up at his word choice and tone. Grayson comes over and sits to my right, taking my hand in his, lacing our fingers then kissing my cheek, giving Harry a soft glare all the while. I glance over at Harry and see him awkwardly shifting in place.

"So you guys are dating?" He finally asks.

I was going to answer when Grayson did it for me.

"Yup, have been for a year and 5 days." He says, bringing our hands up and pressing the top of mine to his lips.

Harry nods awkwardly, "Congrats."

Everyone stays quiet for a while until Luke gets to the table, way too excited for the tone in the air.

"Hey guys! How's everyone to-" his gaze lands on my hand in Grayson's then he gives an understanding nod. "Oh," he looks over at Harry. "So you know now."

"Yeah, um, I think it's best if I leave." Harry says as he gets up.

"Wait," I say, "Who are you going-"

At that moment Jayson and Frank came into the cafeteria. Harry looks back at us and cocks his head to the guys who just entered. I nodded and Grayson's jaw clenched and his knuckles turned white. Harry nods in Luke's direction before running off behind Jayson and Frank.

Grayson glares at Harry the whole time, only looking away when even I could no longer see him in the crowd. Luke sits down awkwardly as Grayson turns to me.

"What did he say to you?" Grayson asks me sternly.

"No-"

"Don't say it was nothing, it was obviously something. You only laugh like that when someone says something hilarious."

"Grayson, it was nothing at all close to what you're probably thinking. All he did was ask a question."

"Esther, look I'm sorry, but I see the way he looks at you, and I don't like it."

"What?"

"I mean have you not noticed?" Grayson says, sitting up, but not letting go of my hand.

"Noticed what? What are you-what is he talking about?" I glance over at Luck who shrugged. "What are you talking about Grayson?"

"I'm talking about how he looks at you. When he looks at you, he studies you, he looks at you carefully, he stares at you and a faint smile appears on his face. I know he likes you." Grayson's voice rising a little.

"What? No, Grayson you're over reacting-"

"No, you are under reacting."

"How can I even react to something I never took notice of?" I say, my voice doing the same.

Grayson stared at me and bit his lower lip, setting his lips in a thin line. He was really mad, but why? Had Harry really been doing that all this time?

"Are you jealous?" I asked out loud.

Grayson bites his lower lip and looks away, pursing his lips.

I give him a grimace that he didn't see, "Grayson, how many-"

"I think we should talk about this alone," he motions to Luke, who sits there awkwardly.

I let out a sigh, "Okay, let's go outside." I look back at Luke, "You should wait for Amile, so you won't have to be alone."

"Eh, I've got some studying to do, so I'll be fine."

Grayson gets up, but still doesn't let go of my hand. I stand up with him and we go outside and start walking to the courtyard.

"Okay look, yeah I am jealous, alright?" Grayson states, looking down at me.

"Gray, I-"

"Esther please, let me talk yeah?" He looks off to the side.

I let out a sigh, "Okay."

We reach the courtyard and sit down on the grass, leaning our backs against the trunk of a massive oak tree. Grayson leans his head back on the trunk and wraps his left arm around my shoulders.

"So, yeah I'm jealous, and I know what you tell me. I should not be, that you only have eyes for me, and that you love me and that you're in love with me and that, you would never ever do anything to hurt me, but I'm still really insecure."

I purse my lips to stop myself from talking.

"And I know what you tell me about that, but I still," He lets out a sigh. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything, I trust you more than I trust my team, it's just that I don't trust others. Any living soul could see that you're amazing. You're as close to perfection a human can get to, and if anyone else drove you away from me, I don't know what I would do. Not only would I lose my girlfriend, but I would lose my best friend." He lifts his head and looks down at me. "I just don't want to lose you Esther."

I look at him and give him a small smile before sitting up and placing my lips on his. I kiss him softly, and he does the same, which made it all sweeter. I put my hand on his neck and he shifts so that he puts his right hand on my cheek. We pull away after a while, but stay close in proximity.

"Are you done?" I ask looking into his eyes.

He nods.

"Gray, don't worry about me going anywhere. I'm all yours, you're the man who taught me that I shouldn't be insecure because you've got me, and I want you to realize that it goes both ways. I've got you, like you've got me. If you ever feel like this again, just jealous and like I'm slipping away, let me know so I can find a way to fix this."

"Well, kissing me and hanging out with me would help." He says with a smirk.

I chuckle, "Okay, well, you want to come with me to the fine arts hall? We have practice for the mixer coming up."

Grayson nods, "They won't kick me out?"

"Not if they want me in there."

Grayson chuckles and pecks my lips, "I love you Esther."

I laugh and get up, holding my hand out for him. He takes it and stands up. I peck his lips and entwine my hand with his, "I love you too Grayson."

He smiles at me and brings me closer so he could wrap his arms around my shoulders and I wrapped mine around his waist to make our way to the fine arts hall.


	3. Before a game

I sit down in front of Grayson's dorm to wait for him. K had told me that I was going to sing the national anthem today, and I was very nervous. I didn't want to have a Christina Aguilera moment in which I forgot half of the song. I didn't want to get off key or start off wrong, and I didn't want to embarrass the team, or Duke University for that matter. I looked around and saw no one around, so I decided to practice a little.

 _Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light_

 _What so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming_

 _Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight_

 _Over the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming_

 _And the rockets' red glare_

 _The bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night_

 _That our flag was still there_

 _Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave_

 _Over the land of the free, and the home of the brave._

It sounded good. I was on key, it was strong, and it had a nice pitch. I sighed out, satisfied with the way I practiced it, then I heard someone clapping slowly. I look up and see Grayson with a proud smile on his face. I chuckle and cover my face embarrassed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Esther Annabeth Luna!" he says before coming over and standing in front of me. "That was beautiful baby."

I chuckle and bite my lower lip, "You say that about every song I sing."

"Because every single one you sing is amazing, you're an amazing singer Ez." He says as he sits next to me.

I turn to face him, "No I'm no-"

Grayson interrupts me, "Don't say it Esther."

"But I-"

"I'm warning you Esther," He says, a sly smile creeping on his lips.

"Gray, I am not an ama-"

"Okay you asked for it!" He exclaimed.

I was about to ask what he meant when he grabbed my waist and pushed me down into the grass and started tickling me.

"Gr-Grayson, stop!" I exclaim in between laughs.

"Not until you stop telling lies." Grayson claims as he straddles my hips with his knees.

"No! Stop!" I find his hands and try to pry them off, failing miserably.

"You know what to do."

"Ah, ha ha, ah! Okay okay! Fine! _Ya!_ " I exclaim once more.

Grayson stops, "Are you going to stop lying about your singing?"

I purse my lips, "Maybe."

Grayson gives me a stern look.

I laugh and nod, "Yes Grayson, I promise to stop lying about the manner in which I sing."

Grayson gives me a triumphant smile. "Thank you."

"Why do you think about yourself like that sometimes?"

I cock my head to the side, "I don't know man, and it's just things that I've heard from others. My peers when I was younger, my parents, well my dad, and it just kind of stayed with me. I can't let them go completely. I mean, that's kind of what psychology says. It never really goes away; it's just a way to cope with what happened in your past."

Grayson purses his lips, "I swear Ez I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. Through K's eyes, through Luke's, through Derryck's, through Brandon's, Marshall's, Antonio's. You mean so much to all of us, yet you think you have no value. Honestly, we are all just waiting for the day you realize that, because that's what we've known all this time."

I blush and smile, "I love you, Grayson." I say.

Grayson smiles back, "I love you too, Esther." He says before leaning down and placing his lips on mine. He kisses me for a couple of seconds before pulling away and checking the time. "Oh dang, come one, I have 20 minutes to get there." He gets off me and extends his hands out to me.

"It only takes like 5 to get there though." I say as I take his hands.

"But it's because I wanted to you walk with me." He says as he pulls me up onto my feet.

"But that still just takes 5 minutes to get there from here, why so early?" I ask.

Grayson looks down and plays with my hands, "I wanted to spend time with you before the game, it helps calm my nerves."

"Grayson Allen has nerves? What?"

"Yeah yeah," He wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Let the press know! Grayson Allen gets butterflies in his stomach before every game and the girl from Texas that stole his heart helps both calm them down and makes them multiply." He says as we start walking in the direction of Cameron.

I laugh and wrap my arm around his waist. Now that Grayson brought up the press, it reminded me of all the questions that they asked, well maybe just the one question that they have all asked ever since Grayson started hugging me before every game. I was so deep in thought about this that I didn't even realize I sighed out loud.

Grayson looks down at me, "Are you okay?"

I purse my lips and look down. He said he had nerves and that was going to block his mind right now, and I didn't want to pester him with those questions.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, giving him a smile.

He chews the inside of his cheek before he stopped walking. "Esther, please tell me."

"Grayson, I swear it's nothing. I don't want to pester you with it."

"If it's bothering you, then it's my problem too. Please babe, tell me."

I nod and start walking, dragging Grayson with me.

"Well, um, lately, well not just lately. Ever since you started hugging me before every game, reporters from everywhere, and I mean everywhere, have been asking about our relationship."

Grayson's eyes widened, "They know?"

"No, no, they um just ask about it. I guess they're looking for like a scandal or something."

"Yeah, the whole, 'Duke Basketball player is found to be dating coach's niece for possible favoritism.'"

"Yeah, and I carefully evaded those questions."

Grayson chuckles, "How?"

"Well, they asked,

'Grayson Allen has started hugging you before every game, what is the significance of that?'

And I would answer: 'It's just a hug, possibly of reassurance for his nerves, I mean as the psychologist of the team, I am here for exactly that.'"

Grayson waited for me to continue.

"Then the next thing they asked was what my relationship to you was. They said that they had photographic evidence of us hanging out during tournaments and throughout days that we would have our dates."

"They were stalking us during our dates?"

"Apparently man, they showed me one of them when I gave you a hug after you gave me my baseball bracelet at the park. They said they saw the present and that I might as well just confirm their suspicion."

"Did you?" Grayson looks down at me.

I shook my head, "No, I wanted to consult you first before doing anything."

Grayson raises an eyebrow.

"So I said that you were my best friend. They were a little disappointed at it and kept on pestering me with the same question over and over, and I kept repeating the same answer. I mean, it's technically not a straight up lie, but I did keep the truth from them."

Grayson nods then sighs. "You didn't want to tell them?" He sounds almost disappointed.

"No, well, no it really doesn't matter to me, the whole world could be clueless as to you and me or they could know every single little detail about us, and I wouldn't care, all that matters to me is that we stay true to each other and not let anyone come between us." I say. "Really, it doesn't matter, you can tell them whenever you want, I won't be offended or anything, you can make us public at any time."

Grayson purses his lips and nods. Dang it, he's probably mad now.

"Are you mad about it?" I ask cautiously.

"No, it's just that, I forgot that we never made ourselves public, it's all been such an amazing experience, I didn't even remember that I was a basketball player when I'm around you." He says chuckling.

I raise an eyebrow, "You forget you're a basketball player when you're around me? You fail to realize that you are one of the best on the team and you have so much God-given talent."

"No, you fail to realize the effect you have on others, me in particular."

"Just because I'm your girlfriend?"

"Because you are one of the most significant people in my life man." He says, tightening his embrace. "I swear, you've motivated me so much, and you've helped me with so much, I wouldn't be as strong as I am today if it were not for God putting you in my life. I love you so much, it surprises me sometimes."

I lean my head on his shoulder and take a deep breath. Grayson smelled like lavender and sweat, pretty much how all of the guys smell, considering they all wash their stuff together, but Grayson's scent was different. It was one that was set apart, I don't know how, it just was. Maybe it's that his is perfectly balanced, or maybe it's just that I knew it was him, somehow my heart knew it was him and not others. I don't know what it is, but I loved it, I loved him. "I love you too, Grayson."

We continued walking in silence, just enjoying each other's company, that it until we reached the Crazies' campsites, and found newspapers and interviewers there. I was the first one to let go, then Grayson followed. We continued walking, praying that we would not be seen, but it was too late. One of the reporters has seen us and started running to us.

"Grayson! Ether!" Once she called out to us, the rest of them followed her. Next thing you know, we were surrounded. Cameras flashing and questions overlapped, I was only able to catch some of them.

 _What is your relationship?_

 _How do you keep it a secret?_

 _Why won't you just tell us the truth?_

One of them even tried to grab me, but Grayson took my arm and pulled me away in time. "Let's go," he whispered in my ear. He led me away from the crowd and around the back of Cameron.

"In there." Grayson says as he pulls us into a space big enough just for the both of us and dark enough to hide us both. I bring my arms in and put them on Grayson's chest to make sure they don't swing out and give us away. Grayson puts his hands on the wall pressing into my back to do the same.

We hear the reporters get to the back, but they don't look at us. In fact, they ran right past us.

I let out a sigh of relief. "That was fun."

Grayson smiles at me and laughs. "You and I have two totally different ideas of fun."

I roll my eyes playfully and try to get out, but Grayson doesn't let me. "Hey, we have to get in there."

Grayson checks his watch, "We still have 15 minutes, I think we can spend 5 of them here."

I chuckle and duck under his arm, "Nice try, I don't want to get you in trouble." I wink at him and open the back door, going inside, Grayson behind me.

"Excuse me, this isn't-oh hey Esther, Grayson." Hank the security guy said to us once the door closed. "What are you guys doing?"

"Yeah sorry about that Hank, we got chased by some reporters so we came in through here." Grayson answers for me.

"Chased by reporters? Why would they-oh right, you two's relationship. All of Duke knows about it, why not them?" He asks.

Grayson and I look at each other then shrug. "I don't know, I really don't care if they do or not, it's up to him." I glance at Grayson. "Don't give him any ideas right now though, he needs to focus."

Hank laughs, "Alright alright, go into the locker room, I'm pretty sure both of you are wanted there."

"Thanks Hank," I say as I take Grayson's hand and we start to walk to the locker room. We get there and I push the door open to let us in. We get to the lockers and see the guys sitting in a circle talking. They look up and see us.

"Speaking of mushy love, where were you two?" Plumlee says as the rest of them turn to see us.

I roll my eyes and smile, " _Callate Ciruela,_ I'm actually the reason he's here at least a little early." I give Grayson a smirk.

Grayson chuckles and wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me in to kiss my forehead.

"Ew, they're going to start. Alright guys let's change so they can stop." Luke says as he walks by Grayson with a towel and hits his butt with it.

Everyone laughs and gets up to get their clothes as Grayson wraps his other arm around my shoulders, "shielding" me. I smile and wrap my arms around his waist.

"Okay, well I gotta go get dressed babe." He pecks my lips.

I nod and give him a proper kiss. "I'll see you later _amor._ "

He puts his forehead on mine and kisses me again. "I love it when you call me that."

I giggle and push Grayson back, "Stop wasting time, you have to change."

He laughs and pecks my lips just once more before ruffling my hair.

I roll my eyes and hit his hand as he retracted it. From there, I went to do my job of filling up the water bottles and getting the balls out.

I stood up and started greeting all the guys as they came out of the locker room. I did the usual; everyone had their own different greeting, them it came time for Grayson to come out. I do his complicated handshake then give him a hug. The hug usually lasts just 2 seconds then he lets go, but when he hugged me this time, he kissed the top of my head and whispered "I love you," in my ear, before running over to his place. This left me in shock, staring after Grayson who winked and smiled at me when he got to his place. I chuckled in disbelief and smiled at him.

Cameron erupted in cheers and applause. I stand at the sideline with K as they introduce Vanderbilt's starting five. They go shake the ref's hands the come over and shake K's, Sheyr and Caple's hands before shaking mine. When they came around and announced Duke's starting five, Grayson did something unexpected again. Of course he hugged me, then this time he kissed my cheek before running off to the free-throw line.

K comes over to me, hands me a microphone and tells me to go to center court. I nod and follow instructions.

 _Please take off your caps and stand for the singing of our national anthem, manager for the Duke Blue Devils and current valedictorian of the 2018 class, Esther Luna._

I take a deep breath and bring the microphone close to my mouth.

 _Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light_

 _What so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming_

 _Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight_

 _Over the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming_

 _And the rockets' red glare_

Applause and cheers rose from the foul line and from the crowd. Even the opposing players raised their eyebrows in surprise.

 _The bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night_

 _That our flag was still there_

 _Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave_

 _Over the land of the free, and the home of the brave._

Cameron breaks into applause once more as I go back to K with the team behind me.

"Alright guys, remember what we said and what we do, you guys got this, and just have fun. Let's prove to these guys what Duke University already knows, that we are talented and blessed." K says at the huddle. "Duke on three, one, two, three! Duke!"

The huddle breaks, and Grayson comes over to me. I thought he was going to come and hug me once more, but instead, he lifted his hands to cup my cheeks and pecked my lips. This took me by so much surprise; I didn't even notice the crowd start whistling at us.

"I'll explain later," He says in my ear before running onto the court with the team.

I stay there in shock, in front of the chair I needed to sit on. Grayson kissed me in front of the entire campus and in front of another university. He just confirmed our relationship so the press would stop bothering us, well mainly me. A smile slowly creeps onto my face as I sit down. I cover my face with my hands and run a hand through my hair, feeling my cheeks get red. This was going to be a long, but sweet game.


End file.
